TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1948
Objections to Another B
B T William Meek, Local President
National Association tor the Advancement
, of Colored People
The following is an honest statement to clarify
the presfent situation regarding racial discrimina
tion in the existing barber shops in State College,
by stating certain objections which the NAACP
has to the establishment of another barber shop,
and setting forth reasons for believing that a boy
cott is the answer to the problem. It should be
emphasized that this statement is issued with
great regard for the utter sincerity of those who
propose means which are not in agreement with
those set forth here. It is our hope, however, that
light Will be shed upon the entire matter, and
students will be better able to arrive at an answer
to the near-dilemma.
It has been said that setting up another shop
will lead to the solution of the problem of dis
crimination by setting a good example for the
other barbers to follow. We feel that such a shop,
considering the present over-abundance of trade,
can only serve as a relief agent for the discrimi
nating barbers! After the discrimination has been
brought to light, such a shop will serve as a place
to which recalcitrant barbers can direct all pro
spective Negro patrons. It is the job of any indi
vidual or group to change discriminatory prac
tices in the establishments which are already in
ekistence, and this can not be accomplished by
settitig up another establishment which may in
itself become a problem.
In regard to the examples for the barbers to
follow, it must be pointed out that since every
business establishment in town, except barber
shops, accepts Negro trade, and has been doing so
for a number of years without a loss of trade,
there can be no justifiable excuse for a refusal of
democratic practices in the barber shops. If this
kind 6f example is insufficient, let us point out
that some of the barbers in town cut hair in a GI
bqrber Shop during the war which was set up in
In Land of
fContinued from page two)
that this fabric of segregation
with its development of vicious
discrimination; its pattern of or
ganized brutality and oppression
—all of it with its roots in slavery
—has become a tyrant over both
White and Black.
There are—and every Southern
Negro, field hand or college pres
ident, knows it—decent , humane,
tolerant white men and women in
the Southland. The Negro knows
too, that those white people lack
courage—and it would take cour
age of a high order—to take a de
finite stand against the more vic
ious and unnecessary forms of
discrimination. He knows they
don’t approve of wanton, brutal
murder. They just lack the cour
age to spearhead a movement to
Jail, indict ,try and hang the trig
ger-happy “nigger-killers” who
are the men who actually set the
pattern for race relations in the
South.
Might Be Mobbed
The least that could happen to
any white who so “betrayed” his
race would be to be dubbed “nig
ger lover” and see his wife and
children and his business suffer.
He might easily be lashed within
an inch of his life by a hooded
mob.
In practically every group of
Negroes of which I found myself
a part, somebody was sure to say
in one fashion or another:
“I’d almost be willing to quit
the fight for better education for
our people for five or ten years,
if I could have some sort of as
surance that all of these cracker
whites would get a sound educa
tion. That way, the cruelty and
ignorance and gullibility would be
im Crow —
educated out of them and they’d
forget their hatred and intoller
ance of the Negro.”
Your more cynical, educated
Negro has a sort of kindly con
tempt for most of the white race
in the South. In business con
tacts he is accustomed to out
smarting the white —in cultural
contacts he can’t help realizing
that quite frequently he is the su
perior of the white man he’s deal
ing with.
And Nothing Will Happen
But no Negro in the South—no
matter who he is and no matter
how high his station—e,ver for
gets that the white man always
has the one final all-conclusive
badge of superiority. The white
man can kill him in his tracks, in
cold blood, for fun or for no rea
son at all. And nothing will hap
pen to the White man.
That’s the one thing that over
shadows every phase of race rela
tions in tile South. It’s the terri
fying specter of every white man
who talks to a Negro in the
Southland. Why, I don’t recall
hearing a single Negro refer to
the “Mason and Dixon” line. To
him it’s the “Smith and Wesson’’
line.
And despite all that, your black
man in the South doesn’t hate the
white.
But what he does hate with all
his heart is the discrimination and
the oppression that dog his foot
steps from the cradle to the grave.
He hates most of all the fact that
he is but half of a citizen. He has
all of the obligations of a citizen
but not a single one of the rights.
He fights and dies for his country,
but he can’t vote. He pays his
taxes —at a Jim Crow counter
OTH
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN, STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA
arber Shop
order to accommodate the ASTP students here at
the College. This shop was non-di*crimlnatory in
nature, and in this work the barbers had an ex
cellent example of democracy in action! If neither
of the two examples cited has succeeded in
changing the vile practice of discrimination in the
down-town shops, there is reason to believe that
“examples” of that nature are insufficient. What,
then, is needed?
We feel that a boycott of the town barber shops
is necessary in order to prove by an. effective
demonstration of popular opinion that discrimina
tion has no place in State College. This method
has been used at Michigan University, Williams
College, Michigan State College, UCLA, and Illi
nois University, to name a few, and has proven to
be highly effective in leading to a change in pol
icy on the part of the uhdemocratic. It should be
tried at Penn State!
Needless to say, many persons believe that boy
cotting and picketing denote force and violence.
This is far from being true. A boycott is a simple
withdrawal of patronage, a form of consumers’ re
sistance, which will serve as a means of persuad
ing through public opinion! Likewise, a picket
line is merely a method of attracting attention to
a situation which exists, and the slogans appear
ing on picket signs are merely expressions which
serve as remainders and appeals for the public to
continue the effort and cooperate until the picket
ing ceases. No force or violence need be in either
action, and there certainly can be no attempt to
forcibly deny entrance to anyone if the venture
is to succeed.'
If we have succeeded in clarifying the situation
we are grateful, as it is our opinion that an effec
tive demonstratiqn of public opinion against dis
crimination in State College barber shops will
lead to the elimination of a shameful condition
locally, and will be one more step in making
democracy a reality for all Americans, without
regard to race, creed, color, national origin, or
ancestry!!
usually—but no Negro ih the
South has half the representation
that a colonist had in 1775. The
ringing sentences of the Declara
tion of Independence are a grijn
and tragic joke to him. He has no
right or liberty that a Southern
sheriff, court or white plantation
owner is bound to respect. As
witness the fact that he is killed
by the score every year—and his
slayers walk free.
Those are some of the things
that the Negro hates.
As for what he wants—two
things. And in this order. First,
the ballot. Second, proper arid
adequate education for his child
ren.
At first when they’d tell me this
—everywhere it was the same,
Oeorgia, Alabama, Mississippi,
Tennessee—l’d try to argue.
“Why not end murder first?”
I’d demand. “Why not stop the
sehseless slaughter of Negroes irt
the South?”
One answer I got in Georgia
will do for all of them—they fol
lowed the same line.
“Look,” this Negro leader said.
“Voters don’t kill easy. Nobody's
going around shotting voters just I
MILITARY
Blue Barron
"That's tha improvement the Dean of Women requested."
to make a record. With the vote,
the Negro will have a choice in
picking his officials. That’s going
to make it tougher for the candi
date for sheriff whose only plat
for mis the number of unarmed
Negroes he killed.”
No Negro I talked to expects to
see an elected Negro official in
the South in his lifetime. In fact,
many of them don’t want to—not
for a long long time.
Don't Want a Negro Party
As the franchise comes slowly
to the Negro in the South, not
ably in Georgia where close to
200,000 Negroes will be registered
this fall, what Negro leaders are
on thealert to oppose i s anything
resembling a Negro political fac
tion, or a Negro party, or even
block voting by Negroes. They
realize the danger of increased
racial tension if that should oc
cur now.
In Atlanta, where some 30,000
leaders carefully avoil endorsing
candidates. Who am I to say that
there’s no quiet, under-cover
p roselyting? But there are no
public endorsements. For one
thing, it probably would be a kiss
the
BALL
featuring.
of death for the favored candi
date.
But believe me, white candi
dates do diligently cultivate the
Negro vote in Atlanta. They call
on the Negro in home or office
and solicit his vote in quite cour
teous fashion. How do I know?
Brother, I was there.
Next and final: What does the
Negro really want?
The Ideal Gift
NITTANY LION
Made of fine china hand dec
orated in Penn State colors.
Only $3.95 postpaid for this
large 12x7 inch statuette. Send
check or money order.
The KING CO.
P.O. Box 293 Trenton, N.J.
his “music of yesterday
and today"
FRIDAY, DEC. 10
EEC HALL
Formal
Dancing 9 to 12:30
PAGE THREE